COMMEMORATION THE VICTIMS OF PAWLOKOMA

On March 3, Ukraine's national colors were raised by Ukrainian community at the memorial to 366 victims of the tragedy of Pawlokoma. The reason for this was a commemoration of victims of a tragedy, that took place in the Polish village.

In 1945, on March 1-3, more then 3 hundred Ukrainians were shot dead in the village, due to their nationality. The crime was committed by a unit of the Armia Krayova under the guidance of Jozef Biss. The 36 survivors had been driven towards the border with the Ukrainian SSR.

Te commemoration event was attended by the Ukrainian delegation headed by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin. Traditionally, the Priests of traditional Ukrainian Churches held a memorial service. Presenters laid flowers to the memorial cross, which was opened jointly by presidents Lech Kaczynski and Viktor Yushchenko in 2006.

From the Polish side the event was attended by Ewa Leniart - the head of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship of Poland - who made a speech and paid tribute to the murdered Ukrainians.

Against the backround of recent attacks towards Ukraine on historical backround, worth noting that mrs. Leniart presence on the commemoration event is a positive sign, which gives hope for a constructive dialogue between Ukraine and Polandon diplomatic area.